Double-cab HiLux gets crash safety upgrade - The West Australian

Toyota has issued one last round of upgrades to its sales-dominating HiLux ute, with its double-cab variants getting new features which crucially see it now achieve the maximum five-star ANCAP crash safety rating.

It follows a similar modification on single and extra cab models late last year.

Structurally, the robust 4x4 was already up to standard but had to receive extra padding for the knees of the driver and front-seat passenger and a three-point seatbelt for the middle rear passenger. It also now has stability and traction control, which used to be a $1500 option on the SR variant.

Toyota has given the HiLux a handful of extra features, despite a new generation model expected to arrive next year.

A new five-speed automatic transmission sees fuel economy on 4WD diesel models improved to 8.7L/100km, while the top-of-the-line SR5 variant gains a reversing camera and sat-nav with live traffic updates - all on a new 6.1-inch display.

As with the newly updated RAV4, the changes have seen prices rise slightly on the HiLux range, from between $500 and $1000.